U.S. investigators have determined that 400,000 gallons of oil were lost last month when a train derailed and caught fire in North Dakota, according to a report released Monday. The derailment on December 30 highlighted concerns about shipping crude by rail. It also led to a safety alert from the U.S. Department of Transportation warning about the potential high volatility of crude from the Bakken oil patch in eastern Montana and western North Dakota. According to the National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB's) preliminary report, the eastbound train derailed after crashing into a grain car that had fallen onto the track after a westbound train carrying soybeans derailed. The NTSB is studying what role a broken axle might have played in the derailment of the grain train. The derailments of the two BNSF Railway trains sparked massive explosions about a kilometer from Casselton, a town of about 2,400 residents in southeast North Dakota. No one was hurt, but about 1,400 people voluntarily evacuated.
